Family files claim against LAPD for man hit, killed by officer misusing emergency lights

Family files claim over LAPD crash death

An LAPD cruiser hit and killed Luis Espinoza while he was crossing the street in South LA in December. Now his family is filing a claim against the department, saying that the officer was misusing her emergency lights at the time of the crash.

LOS ANGELES - The family of Luis Espinoza, the pedestrian who was hit and killed by an LAPD cruiser that was inappropriately using its emergency lights last month, announced Wednesday that it's filed a claim against the department.

The crash happened around 5 p.m. on Dec. 8, when Espinoza was crossing Century Boulevard at McKinley Avenue in the Green Meadows neighborhood of South Los Angeles. According to the LAPD, an officer with the department's Community Safety Partnership Bureau was driving east on Century with the lights on.

As they sped through the light, they hit Espinoza. Dashcam and surveillance video from near the scene captured the crash. Paramedics took Espinoza to the hospital, where he later died. Espinoza was just one day away from his 26th birthday.

One of the focuses of the family's claim is whether the officer was appropriately using her cruiser's emergency lights at the time of the crash.

Pedestrian hit, killed by LAPD cruiser

Dashcam and surveillance footage has been released of the December crash in which an LAPD officer hit and killed a pedestrian with their cruiser. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the officer was inappropriately using her emergency lights at the time of the crash.

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Shortly after the crash, LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the LA Police Commission that he had "very serious concerns about the officer's driving leading up to this collision. Information we've gathered up to this point indicates that, in addition to her traveling at a high rate of speed, she inappropriately activated her emergency lights as she was traveling along Century Boulevard."

Family attorney Michael Carrillo told reporters Wednesday that the officer who struck Espinoza had the patrol vehicle's emergency lights activated — even though she was not responding to a call — and was speeding through a 35 mph zone "like a rocket ship" when Espinoza was hit.

Carrillo also alleged that the officer didn't go to help Espinoza right after the crash, but rather stopped and waited in their cruiser for more than a minute before jumping in to help.

The claim against LAPD alleges that the department "fails to train its officers in proper driving tactics, fails to adequately supervise LAPD officers, and fails to train LAPD officers to have reverence for human life," which ultimately led to Espinoza's death.

The family is also calling on Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón to file charges against the officer. Earlier this month, the LAPD said it referred the case to the DA's office, which said in a statement to FOX 11 that "this matter has been presented to the office's Justice System Integrity Division for charging consideration, and is under review."

City News Service contributed to this report.